International arbitration.

Last December, Chief Judge Bertila Soto of the 11th Circuit signed Administrative Order No. 13-08 establishing an International Commercial Arbitration Subsection (ICA Subsection) within the current Complex Business Litigation Section, in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. This effort was a joint project between the Bar's International Law Section and the Miami International Arbitration Society. The ICA Subsection, which will handle all court proceedings related to international commercial arbitration matters, is only the second such court in the U.S. and adds to Miami's stature as one of leading world venues in the field.

Miami has many advantages as a location to conduct international arbitration hearings related to legal disputes in the Americas. Becoming a international arbitration venue brings enumerable benefits to the local economy. Accordingly, local international arbitration practitioners have been working together over the past 10 years to harness Miami's unique potential as an international arbitration venue by creating the necessary infrastructure to host such proceedings.

The effort began by convincing the world's two largest international arbitration institutions, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, based in New York, and the International Chamber of Commerce, based in Paris, to select Miami as the venue for their conferences on international arbitration in Latin America. This infrastructure also includes a special rule drafted by the ILS and approved by the Florida Supreme Court as Bar Rule 1-3.11, which expressly permits foreign counsel to participate in international arbitration proceedings conducted in Florida. The ILS also led the effort for Florida to adopt the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, the gold standard for international arbitration statutes, as Florida's International Commercial Arbitration Act, F.S. Chapter 684. Based on all these accomplishments, MIAS submitted Miami's winning bid to host the world's most prestigious international arbitration conference, the International Council for Commercial Arbitration Congress, which will take place in Miami from April 6-9.

The creation of specialized courts or judges to handle international arbitration proceedings is widely viewed as an important factor by the...